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I am Tamilian and the Tamil that we speak n use here in Tamilnadu is VASTLY different from Sri Lankan ones. As MIB rightly pointed out Slang, Accent, and Words are very different between the Tamils (Indian ones n Sri Lankan ones).

Since the OP lives in Norway (I guess he is) I expect him to have mainly Sri Lankan Tamil friends.BTW, Nordic countries have majority Tamils from Sri Lanka.

As a language Tamil is one of the oldest in the world with classical status to it (older than any other South Indian Languages and equivalent to Hindi in terms of Origin).

Good to see PPers discussing these kind culture/linguistics related topics, I love PP

No it is not, it is nearly the same. It is just spoken differently. Tamil script can be read by every tamil without any problem. Songs, professional speeches, news are use same tamil. The difference is accent(like US and British). The only place where the problem comes is when using certain words. Indian Tamil has few north indian influences and Sri Lankan Tamil has Portugese influences. If you bring to 90 year old ladies from both countries and make them converse they will converse well for 99.95% of the time untill one starts talking about chair/table/closet/lamp and this where one could struggle to understand the other.

Born in SL, moved to Tamil Nadu when i was 3, lived there till i was 10 then came to Canada. I can speak fluently in both SL, Indian tamil accents and also trying my best to speak with Senthamizh accent(used in Songs, News, Professional speeches). There are actually many kinds of accent in Tamil. Some use Arabic script, but speak in Tamil . Some use Sinhalese script and speak in Tamil. I feel sorry for Tamil in India. 80% of the kids/adult(under 40) in cities can't speak a sentence without using some kind of English word.

Born in SL, moved to Tamil Nadu when i was 3, lived there till i was 10 then came to Canada. I can speak fluently in both SL, Indian tamil accents and also trying my best to speak with Senthamizh accent(used in Songs, News, Professional speeches). There are actually many kinds of accent in Tamil. Some use Arabic script, but speak in Tamil . Some use Sinhalese script and speak in Tamil. I feel sorry for Tamil in India. 80% of the kids/adult(under 40) in cities can't speak a sentence without using some kind of English word.

I'm from Delhi but have been living in Chennai for practically whole of my life and i agree learning city Tamil i found it hard to converse with people from South Tamil Nadu but i must agree people of south Tamil Nadu speak softer and more respectful Tamil.

In cricket, my superhero is Sachin Tendulkar. He has always been my hero.
-Virat Kohli

I'm from Delhi but have been living in Chennai for practically whole of my life and i agree learning city Tamil i found it hard to converse with people from South Tamil Nadu but i must agree people of south Tamil Nadu speak softer and more respectful Tamil.

Exactly lol. I found that many people in Chennai often speak little respect lol. Instead of "ponga" "vanga' it's "po" "va".

No matter how much I learn spoken tamil, never get that slang/tone you guys talk.

I've noticed malayalam has a rhythmic tone to it (the pronunciation of words have a certain kind of drag to it, almost like a musical tune). There are a lot of tamil slangs within Tamil nadu (and in Sri Lanka, Singapore, etc.) itself and places like Coimbatore and Nagercoil have a similar kind of slang which is expected because of their proximity to Kerala (although they are not exactly like malayalam, they are unique in a way too).

I've noticed malayalam has a rhythmic tone to it (the pronunciation of words have a certain kind of drag to it, almost like a musical tune). There are a lot of tamil slangs within Tamil nadu (and in Sri Lanka, Singapore, etc.) itself and places like Coimbatore and Nagercoil have a similar kind of slang which is expected because of their proximity to Kerala (although they are not exactly like malayalam, they are unique in a way too).

You should see more tamil movies to get the exact hang of it.

True. Am in Coimbatore right now. Tamil is lot better and easier compared to those in Madurai etc.

Btw dropped the plan to watch kabali. Will wait for the next big movie.